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INSIDERVolume 33 ● Number 1

THANKS TO:

Inside Today’s Issue:

Coming Next Issue: Engaging Eco-Talent in Ottawa

January-March 2018

by Sustainable Eastern Ontario

Sustainable Eastern Ontario is a non-profit that supports networking and capacity building among other environmental groups in Eastern Ontario, on a variety of sustainability topics, including energy issues.

by Kim SmetRecently moved from

Boston, where she completed her Ph.D.,

Kim has a background in hydrological engineering

and an interest in all things sustainability

related.

Continued on pg 7...

Noticed a change in Ottawa’s street-lights?

Saving Energy While Saving Lives

BEEM-ing up energy savings at municipal buildings

OC Transpo: not all just about taking the bus

OCSB leads the way on energy savings

PAGE 3 PAGE 7 PAGE 6 PAGE 5 PAGE 8

Sustainable Eastern Ontario and the Independent Electricity Service Opperator their contributions to and support of this Insider.

With climate change and energy issues growing ever more

pressing, alignment (at least in theory) between different levels of government, and so many groups concerned about energy issues, it’s not really a surprise that Ottawa has become a hotspot for discussion on these topics. The cover of this edition of the PEN highlights this, featuring an article about Energy Evolution from Councillor David Cher-nushenko, Chair of the City of Ottawa’s Environment and Climate Protection Commit-tee.

Showcasing Energy Efficiency Throughout Ottawa

Energy Efficiency Showcase

At Sustainable Eastern Ontario, we’ve been jumping on the green energy bandwagon as well. Some might argue that we’ve always been on it, but we recently received funding from Ontario’s Independent Elec-tricity Service Opperator (IESO) that allowed us to substantially increase our capacity. This increase came in the form of Talal El Ayoubi and Kim Smet, our two interns. Both recent engineering graduates, they were hired in large part through the IESO funding to work in partnership with the City of Ottawa to gather and dissem-inate some of the best practicies going on with energy manage-ment in the Ottawa area. Kim works with dif-ferent departments inside the City of Ottawa, and Talal works with universities, care homes, hospitals, and other organiza-tions defined as “Private Sector Entities” by the IESO. Obviously sometimes these overlap, and they work together on certain projects. The bulk of this Insider edition is drawn from the find-ings of our intrepid engineering corps, and highlights some of the

most success-ful examples of energy conservation, green energy generation, and over-all energy management going on around the residents of Ottawa as we go about our day to day lives. It’s our hope that by reading about these projects, the Ottawa com-munity will be more engaged with what various institutions are doing to combat climate change, and be inspired to continue to take action in their own lives. Of course, gathering information will only get you so far - it needs to be communi-cated as well. If any of the case studies mentioned in the Insider

resonate with you, please do get in touch. We are happy to talk more and get into the nitty-gritty numbers of return on invest-ment and carbon reduction, especially if we can help other organizations immitate this good work.

Contact SEO’s interns at:talal@SustainableEasternOn-tario.ca, or kim@Sustainable EasternOntario.ca. Visit www.SustainableEasternOn-tario.ca for more information about us.

Trash Turning Turbines - Waste to Energy at Trail Road

Landfill gas used to be just a smelly byprod-uct of decomposing

garbage. Not any more: land-fill gas released by the Trail Road Landfill has become a valuable resource that is captured and used to gen-erate electricity that powers homes and businesses in Ottawa.

Project Details: Operating commercially since January 2007, the Trail Road landfill gas-to-energy plant takes landfill gas from the City of Ottawa’s Trail Road Landfill and converts it to renewable energy. This landfill gas is made up mostly of methane (roughly twenty times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide) and in the past, it was simply flared-off without gener-ating any power. Now, a vacuum pump cools and pressurizes the landfill gas before feeding it to several generators where it is combust-ed, producing renewable elec-tricity, with carbon dioxide and water vapour as by-products. The generating facility is connected to the Fallowfield Distribution Station, meaning

that the electricity produced can be fed directly into the existing distribution grid. The generat-ing facilities were developed by PowerTrail, which also operates the facility, and is a partnership between Energy Ottawa and In-tegrated Gas Recovery Services. The landfill gas-fu-elled facility originally had five engines, for a total generating capacity of five megawatts. In June 2012, after five years of operation, Energy Ottawa added a sixth engine to the plant to make better use of the abun-dantly available landfill gas. Thus at present, the site’s generating capacity is 6 megawatts, produc-ing more than 40,000 mega-watt-hours of renewable energy each year, or enough electricity for 6,000 homes. The generating facility operates 24 hours a day, 365 days per year, with interruptions only for routine maintenance.

Results:

In addition to the renewable energy generated, the drop in landfill gas flare-offs reduces annual greenhouse gas emissions from the landfill by up to 180,000 tonnes relative to the situation in 1990. (Even though carbon dioxide is still produced as a by-product of the com-bustion process, because it is a

much less potent greenhouse gas than methane, the result is still a substantial net reduc-tion in emissions). Furthermore, the renewable electricity generated at the landfill eliminates the need for an equivalent quantity of elec-tricity generated from other,

Kim & Talal don’t always agree, but they work together well to get the job done, and we’re happy to have their help! Photo: Kathryn Norman

Jan - March 2018 Peace and Environment News - PEN INSIDERPg 2

“The Hospital Energy Efficiency Program ... will help ensure hospitals can focus on helping patients get timely access to appropriate, high-quality health care within a sustainable system” - Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health

and Long-Term Care

by Talal El Ayoubi

Talal is a recent graduate of Carleton University with a degree in Sustainability

Systems Engineering.

Energy Management at Hospitals in Ottawaconnecting the supply side of the loop to the Hospital’s main heating loop and matching the control sequence of both loops. This enabled the distri-bution of heat generated by the cogeneration unit to the James Beach building, resulting in a 155,000 m3 reduction in natural gas per year, effectively eliminat-ing five redundant boilers. Other measures taken include fitting existing pumps with Variable Frequency Drives (VFD), and replacing six aging Air Handling Units (AHUs) with ener-gy efficient units that are also equipped with VFDs on supply and return fans. Prior to energy conser-vation measures, the AHUs ran around the clock regardless of occupancy. This is no longer the case since some of the AHUs are on schedules with night setback temperature setpoints (26°C in the summer and 18°C in the winter). Identifying new conser-vation opportunities remains a continuous priority for the Hos-pital. The ECDM plan will be up-dated as soon as new initiatives are developed and put in place in order to build upon previous successes. Currently, the Hospi-tal is looking at the feasibility of purchasing a second 1MW cogen engine, which would make the Hospital energy self-sufficient, as its total demand is 1.6 MW.

schedules, and rebalancing the air and water flows of the HVAC system are just a few ways to improve occupant comfort and save energy costs in the short term. The energy management strategies at both the Ottawa Hospital and Queensway-Car-leton Hospital exemplify leader-ship and commitment to when it comes to energy efficiency, taking Ottawa a step further in becoming a provincial leader in the healthcare sector.

five-year comprehensive Energy Conservation and Demand Man-agement (ECDM) plan beginning in the 2014/15 fiscal year. The Hospital invested around $15 million to implement a list of projects highlighted in the ECDM. One of these projects was the Parking Lighting Project, which saw the replacement of the parking lot’s T8 fixtures with high efficiency LED fixtures with occupancy sensors. This reduced electricity consumption by 263,000 kWh. In 2004, the Hospital added a 1 MW cogeneration (cogen) system that produced 6,600,000 kWh of electricity for the facility. In recent years, the system’s performance has been hindered by grid redevelopment projects that interrupted the cogen’s normal operation (this was outside the hospital’s con-trol as it affected the local power grid). With the aim of improv-ing the cogeneration runtime performance from 75% to 85%, the cogeneration engine was re-placed in 2015, and maintenance schedules were planned to align with Hydro Ottawa maintenance to minimize the remote transfer trips that halt generation capa-bility. Moreover, the Hospital identified room for improvement in the James Beach building. The project consisted of a successful redesign of the heating loop,

Conclusions

Improving public health through pollution mitigation is a compelling reason for healthcare institutions to improve building efficiency. Significant savings don’t require the procurement of the latest technologies. In fact, these savings can easily be attained by focusing on improv-ing the energy performance of existing equipment. Recalibrat-ing thermostats and occupancy sensors, adjusting operating

ft2 through a series of redevel-opment projects over the years. In an effort to ensure that their facilities are running at optimum efficiency, the Queensway-Carleton Hospital has thoroughly committed to tracking and monitoring their energy consumption for the past ten years. However, due to the introduction of new equipment with steep learning curves, and new systems that have limited coordination with the older systems, the Hospital’s building operators found it exceedingly challenging to adapt to these changes. This led to an overall decline in energy efficiency in recent years, which prompted the Hospital to come up with a

include new lighting retrofits that saw the replacement of 1,400 light bulbs with high effi-ciency LEDs, saving over 200,000 kWh in the process. Others in-clude improvements to mechan-ical systems such as heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) equipment, and upgrades to building automation systems to optimize energy management. In 2017, the Hospital applied for an incentive from Hydro Ottawa through the SaveONenergy program (www.saveonenergy.ca), from which they received $14,000 to replace their aging deep freezers. The fif-teen-year old deep freezers were replaced with six new energy efficient freezers. The total cost

to replace the freezers was $80,000, with an estimated payback period of four years. Since the implemenntation of energy conservation measures in 2003, the Hospital has managed to build up on its success through several projects contributing to a total reduction of 6,420,108 kWh of elec-tricity and 1,084,669 m³ of natural gas per year.

According to data from Natural Resources Cana-da, hospitals are among

the highest energy consumers of all publicly funded facilities. The average hospital spends around $700,000 in annual energy costs, exceeding the energy cost of other building types by almost a factor of ten. By being more energy efficient, hospitals can not only save money, but also improve the air quality of their communities by

The Ottawa Hospital

The Ottawa Hospital is a 1,117-bed acute care facility that serves 1.2 million people across Eastern Ontario, boasting spe-cialty centres in cancer, heart, and vision care. It is considered the top medical centre in Eastern Ontario, with more than 1,200 tallented physicians and 11,000 staff members. After a difficult financial period in the late 1990s, the Ottawa Hospital sought to regain long-term fiscal sustainability by identifying areas where it could be more efficient. The Hospital recognized the importance of reducing energy costs and im-proving building performance to

reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) and other emissions, and sup-port their commitment to public health by setting a blueprint that other institutions may follow. That’s why two of Ot-tawa’s major hospitals (Queen-sway-Carleton Hospital and the Ottawa Hospital) are leading the race towards energy efficiency.

Queensway-CarletonHospital

The Queensway-Car-leton Hospital (QCH) is a 282 bed acute care facility that is patient and family-oriented and situat-ed in the west end of Ottawa. The Hospital opened in 1976 as a 240,000 ft2 facility, before eventually expanding to 680,000

create a healthier environment and reduce costs while still pro-viding quality care to patients. In 2014, the Hospital came up with a five year Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan, with the aim of reducing their overall energy consumption by 10% below the 2012 baseline. The plan focused on maximizing the Hospital’s fis-cal resources while reducing the impact on the environment and creating a culture of conserva-tion within the hospital. The Ottawa Hospital allocated up to $24 million to complete projects that will im-prove operations while meeting an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 15%. Some of these projects

New variable frequency drives and air handling units at the Queensway Carleton Hospital. Photos courtesy of Gilles Lacuyer, Plant Services Manager.

The Ottawa Hospital General Campus. Photo courtesy of the Ottawa Hospital.

Ontario’s Hospital Energy Efficiency Program Announcement

In November 2017, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced a program called the Hospital Energy Efficiency Program, which will help hospitals save energy

and facilitate their transition into using energy efficient technology. This year, the program has allocated $64 million to fund 180 projects across 98 hospitals. By 2021, the program is expected to generate over $60 million in annual energy-related savings. This program is essential to the Province’s target of 80% reduction of GHG emissions, as almost 5 megatons of carbon dioxide equiva-lent (MtCO2e) are expected to be eliminated from the envi-ronment by 2050 as a result of these measures. This program is an initiative of the Climate Change Action Plan and uses proceeds from Ontario’s carbon market to modernize facilities such as hospitals, universities, and heritage buildings. Improving patient care at hospitals across the province is part of Ontario’s plan to create fairness and opportunity during this period of rapid economic change.

January - March 2018Peace and Environment News - PEN INSIDER Pg 3

A before and after comparison of a street included in the street-light retrofit program, as published in the Ottawa Citizen. Note the brighter and more natural light colour on the right, which is

by Talal El Ayoubi

by Kim Smet

Have you noticed a change in Ottawa’s streetlights?

You’re not imagining it, and it’s saving lots of money and

pollution!

Morisset Library Retrofits at University of Ottawa

Ottawa’s Transistion to LED Streetlights

$450,000 or 70% of the build-ing’s annual energy bills. This also prevents approximately 1,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) from being released into the atmosphere every year. As a socially responsible organization, the University of Ottawa is taking concrete steps to protect the environment and the Morisset Library retrofit is just one of many initiatives tak-ing place on campus. Energy efficiency is a large slice of the sustainability pie, and successful programs like this demonstrate the potential for operational cost savings and can inspire others to act respon-sibly. As of 2015, the Univer-sity has lowered its total GHG emissions by 23%, which keeps them on track in terms of their 2020 targets. Additionally, the campus produces excess heat and the University is considering expanding its district heating/cooling network beyond its buildings own into the neigh-bouring homes and buildings in the Downtown area, supporting the community as well as its own campus.

dramatic energy savings are achieved alongside optimal building performance. This was done through the EcoProsperity program which was responsible for over $3 million in energy sav-ings since its introduction. Despit a total implementation cost of $2,030,000, the payback period of project is only 2.75 years. The project focused on reengineering the entire library Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system, which included the installation of two heat pumps and six thermal wheels to recover waste energy more efficiently. Air handling units were also reconfigured to prevent increased energy con-sumption. The project also elim-inated the use of high pressure steam used for heating by adding heat recovery chillers and better insulated pipes to allow the heating system to run low temperature water at 40°C. Old lighting fixtures were also replaced with high efficiency fixtures. The library retrofit cut electricity consumption by 33% and heating by 106%, saving over 25,000 GJ of energy and

emissions by 34% from 2005 lev-els by the year 2020. This means emitting no more than 13,000 tonnes of GHG per year in 2020. The main campus library was a perfect opportunity to cut down on energy expendi-ture, since it consumes a lot of energy to keep air circulating for the thousands of students that visit everyday, while maintaining optimal humidity so that the books are preserved.

Since building codes change over time, the Morisset Library would have been subject to very low efficiency requirements by pres-ent-day standards at the time of construction. Conventional retrofits for these types of build-ings only scratch the surface when it comes to the total possible energy savings. In this case, a deep energy retrofit, which combines energy effi-ciency measures such as efficient equipment, controlled ventilation,

and insulation was implemented so that

Named after the direc-tor of the University’s libraries, Father Auguste

Morisset, the Morisset Library is a 20,000 m2 structure that houses the University of Otta-wa’s main campus library. Built in 1972 it was designed to hold 800,000 books, serving over 2,000 users at a time.

A streetlight revolution is currently underway in Ottawa: throughout the

city, old High Pressure Sodium (HPS) streetlights are gradually being replaced by new and more energy efficient Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights.

Project Details:

Initiated in February 2016, this project is a partner-ship between the City of Ottawa Transportation Department and Energy Ottawa, a subsidiary of Hydro Ottawa. For the City of Ottawa, this partnership project aligns with the Energy Manage-ment and Investment Strategy of their 2015-2018 Strategic Plan, focusing specifically on reducing the electricity con-sumption of their streetlight network. In 2014, street-lights accounted for 17% of the City’s total electrical use, at an annual cost of $7.2 million. Energy Ottawa (working with a number of private sector partners) is in charge of installing the new LED lighting over the course of the 4-year project, from 2016 until 2020, as well as carrying out all necessary main-tenance over the coming 6-10 years. At the start of the proj-ect, the priority was on identify-ing and replacing those street-

Today, Morisset Library also houses a map library, the Mul-timedia Distribution Service, le Centre de recherche en civil-isation canadienne-française (CRCCF), Ottawa’s campus and community radio CHUO-FM and laboratories and studios operated by the Department of Communications. The University of Ot-tawa is targeting the reduction of direct greenhouse gas (GHG)

lights with the highest energy consumption and/or highest wattage, before moving on to the remainder of the network. In total, the City has around 72,000 streetlights and this project will replace up to 58,000 of them with LEDs. Dec-orative lights are not included in this phase of the project due to their higher fixture cost and thus longer payback period. An often overlooked, but particularly noteworthy, fea-ture of this project is its financ-ing structure. The total cost of the streetlight replacement work is estimated at $32.6 million ($31.4 million in project costs + 3% financing costs). Energy Ottawa ap-proached the City of Ottawa back in 2014 with a proposal: the utility would design, install, finance and maintain every as-pect of the replacement project. With an expected payback peri-od of six years, the realized cost savings for these first six years would go towards paying off the costs of the project, before

subsequently going to the City of Ottawa to allocate to other areas of the budget.

Results:

At the start of the con-version project, it was estimated that switching to LEDs would reduce energy consumption by an estimated 50%. As of the end of 2017, a year and a half

Replacing a high-pressure steam heating system with a low temp (40°C) water system relying on heat recovery and insulated pipes allows the building to be heated with much less energy. Photo: U of O

into the project, average energy savings of 66% are being documented! This gain in effi-ciency will save the City of Ottawa approximately $4 million in utility costs annually when the project is complete (equivalent to removing 2,500 homes from the electricity grid), as well as decrease CO2 emissions by 1,000 tonnes every year. There are other smart features built into this upgrade.Not only is the typi-cal lifespan of LED lights 4 or 5 times longer than that of other light types, with 50% lower maintenance costs, but the LED fixtures have built-in sensors that notify maintenance when a light has failed, thereby reducing down-

In 2014, streetlights accounted for 17% of the City’s total electrical use, at an

annual cost of $7.2 million. . . .As of the end of 2017, average energy savings of

66% are being documented!

time. Furthermore, con-trols within the new lights give system managers the ability to record actual consumption data, as well as support usage-based billing. Additionally, each light

can be customized to offer the optimum illumination levels for each individual street location. This is part of the reason for the greater than expected cost savings seen so far: in the past,

certain areas were overlit due to the one-size-fits-all nature of the older streetlights, where-as these new dimmable lights allow a wide range of dimming options and thus enable energy conservation where less light is needed. While the energy effi-ciencies and emission reductions of LED technology are difficult to argue with, critics of LED street

lighting in Ottawa point to a recent report from the Ameri-can Medical Association where some negative impacts of LED lighting were presented: high intensity residential nighttime lighting, such as bright LEDs, can disrupt the circadian rhythms of nearby residents and has been associated with poor sleep, obesity and impaired daytime functioning. The City of Ottawa has taken steps to address these concerns by ensuring that the newly installed LED fixtures are calibrated to have similar colour temperatures to the old fixtures, with lights on resi-dential roads having a warmer colour temperature than those on main arteries.

Conclusions and Reflections:

As of the end of 2017, Energy Ottawa proudly reports

that the project is on-time and on-budget. The 20,000th streetlight was replaced during October 2017, and so far public sentiment towards the project has been favourable, with most-ly positive/neutral feedback. (Roger Marsh, Chief Energy Ser-vices Officer at Energy Ottawa, confirms that the public treating changes like this as a non-event is in fact just the outcome one hopes for). Looking to the future, the project is on track to have all 58,000 fixtures converted to LED fixtures by 2020, and is perhaps even running a little ahead of schedule.

PENgagement: Learn more about colour temperature, light pollution and “Good

Neighbour Lighting” options by keeping an eye on our

social media outlets and blog.

Jan - March 2018 Peace and Environment News - PEN INSIDERPg 4

“If it were easy (to combat climate change

and revolutionize the building industry),

everyone would be doing it.”

This PEN INSIDER edition was produced in partnership with Sustainable Eastern Ontario and their network of collaborators on a range of energy

projects.Special thanks to the Independent Electricity

Service Opperator and the City of Ottawa

by Sustainable Eastern Ontario

Sustainable Eastern Ontario was responsible for

establishing and coordinating a steering committee that

worked together on the project described in this

article.

Collective Impact: Working Together on Tough Problems

large demand, political will, social momentum, and a variety of other factors. Ensuring that standards are really being followed, and that work is done with an equity perspective in mind will take some figuring out. There will be sticking points, things that don’t work out, and frustrating delays - as there are with any large undertaking. As the saying goes, “if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.” Consider the other side of the coin though. There are hurdles to overcome, but in doing so there is potential not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save a bit of money on heating bills, but to create better, more comfortable homes for everyone, develop a vibrant local economy based on the skills and trades required to get there, build a more sustain-able community, and create a Capital that is a shining example to other municipalities of how to tackle this important issue. It will take a lot of peo-ple from a lot of different back-grounds to make this happen, but that’s the point of collective impact: many groups coming together to tackle tough issues. We’ve been working with a growing network of individuals from many different sectors to develop a pathway to the changes we’d love to see take place in our city, and we’re excited to start realizing some of these possibilities together. For more information on this, please visit the “Our Work” section of the SEO web-site - Collective Impact is right there at the top!

www.SustainableEasternOntario.ca

highly efficient ones that require little or no fossil fuels to operate. It’s exciting to hear about cutting edge innova-tions in energy generation and storage, and there’s a lot of important work that still needs to be done to make all aspects of life more sustainable, but we already know how to move ahead with buildings. If we wait another five to ten years for a new electric vehicle technology (for example) to mature, we’ll be five or ten years closer to irreversible climate change. If we start as soon as possible with buildings - the technology we already have - we buy ourselves time to develop

other aspects of a sus-tainable city. There is also a good return on investment in improving buildings - financially and oth-erwise. While renova-tions can be expensive, developing new energy technology is even more expensive, both in terms of dollars and people power required to devel-op, test and perfect it. Because of this, and the fact that we have so many of them, buildings are one of our best tools to tackle climate change here and now. Obviously this isn’t an easy solution - no one claims it is. But it is a lot easier than tackling the entire problem of climate change in all its complexity, and it can make us more comfort-able in the meantime. Hurdles to overcome

include affordability, the capacity of the construc-tion and renovation sector to meet such a

gy and resources to build something (referred to as the “embodied energy”), and build-ings are no exception. Certainly buildings have a lifes-pan, and there are examples of times when tearing down all or most of a structure to replace it with something better make sense, but not as often as you might think.

In fifty years, we will still have the majority of the build-ings we have right now in Ottawa. Creat-ing new buildings that are extremely efficient is necessary, but so is finding ways to bring existing buildings up to a similar standard.

Fortunately, we already have a lot of good techniques for doing this. Comprehensive improvements in insulation, en-ergy use and management, and even generation make it possible to turn even old buildings into

Climate change is a compli-cated problem. Although most of us understand the

basics of it, scientists are still working on the subtle nuances of how it works. Getting into prevention, mitigation and adaptation, things become even more complicated. How do we convince the dubious among us to take this seriously? How do we create behaviour change? What new technologies will make a difference and how do we implement them? So how do you tack-le complicated problems? By breaking them into smaller pieces, and by working together. That is what a group of environmental non-profit organizations in Ottawa have been working on thanks to a Collective Impact grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Three non-profits originally received funding to establish a core group of collaborators, who then worked together with a larger group of stakeholders to narrow down the huge problem

of climate change into some-thing concrete that they could tackle together. Since all the groups in-volved operate locally, and have a history of collaborating with the City of Ottawa, it made sense to narrow the scope accord-ingly. Looking at ways we could help Ottawa meet or exceed its greenhouse gas reduction tar-gets, it gradually became more and more clear that buildings were the key. Roughly 49% of GHG emissions produced in Ottawa come from heating and cooling buildings. Although there are plenty of places on earth much colder than Ottawa, we are the capital city with the largest routine temperature variation in the world, so keeping our homes and workplaces comfortable is obviously a priority. There have been great advances in building technology in recent decades, and newer buildings are often substantially more comfortable and efficient than older ones. Progressive changes coming to building codes in On-tario will ensure that this trend continues, but what about all the buildings we already have? It takes a lot of ener-

Sophia Wong (right), local conservation accounts manager for the CLEAResult program associated with Hydro One, presenting the outcome of her group’s brainstorming session at a Collective Impact Event on October 4, 2017. Facilitator Kara Stonehouse (left) ran the session. Photo: Kathryn Norman.

At the first Collective Impact event in May of 2017, diverse stakeholders were introduced to the concepts, current opportunities and challenges, and worked on refining a “Problem Statement” that would form the basis of change.Photo: Kathryn Norman

January - March 2018Peace and Environment News - PEN INSIDER Pg 5

YOUR AD HERE

Advertise in the PEN - reasonable rates, targetted audience. Contact info@perc.ca for details.

Your business cares about sustainability. Here’s a way to show it.

by Talal El Ayoubi & Kim Smet

The average transit user may rarely see them, but OC Transpo buildings are

essential to supporting transit service, and they use energy

like any other building.

This article synthesizes two case studies related to OC Transpo facilities that Kim

& Talal collaborated on. The synthesis was written by Talal.

OC Transpo Lighting Retrofitsopperate at 55% of this capacity to achieve the required light levels for the space. As for the tunnel, the existing 129 metal halide luminaires in the ceiling were replaced with 94 new LED luminaires that are designed specifically for tunnel application, such that they are able to reduce glare. Furthermore, a dedicat-ed low-voltage dimming control system was installed to adjust the space lighting in accordance with the Illuminating Engineer-ing Society of North America

(IESNA), which recommends that tunnels be lit to a very high level during the day to match daylight conditions, and dimmed at night to match street lighting condi-tions. The total cost to imple-ment the project was $295,744 with payback period of 9.2 years. The cost includes an incentive rebate of $18,704 from Energy Ottawa on behalf of the Ontario Power Authority (OPA) through their saveONenergy program.

OC Transpo has been taking solid steps in the journey to achieve the City’s green-house gas emission reduction goals: from the Light Rail Transit project currently underway to smaller retrofits at their other facilities. The energy saving projects described here high-light OC Transpo’s commitment to reducing energy usage and maintenance costs for taxpayers, while setting high standards for efficiency at their facilities, and taking steps to become a more sustainable workplace. With the help of Energy Ottawa, OC Transpo continues to explore new opportunities to cut down energy costs and improve their energy portfolio.

1991 as part of the Ottawa Hos-pital’s 390 m2 expansion, which included a platform with a new administration wing. The Station is direct-ly connected to the Riverside Campus of the Ottawa Hospital, making it easier for patients who travel by bus to get to their appointments regardless of the weather. Since there are no connecting bus routes, the Hos-pital remains the primary trip generator and the main purpose for this Station. There are multiple

lighting systems throughout Riverside Station: from re-cessed linear fluorescent strip luminaires that are the primary lighting for the transit platform, to metal halide luminaires that light up elevator lobbies and the

tunnel under the platform. All of these were operated through an antiquated control system in the electrical room, which was designed to operate under three scheduling scenari-os, according to the time of day and ambient light sensing. Upon investigation of the site in 2014, it was concluded that the control system did not function correctly and that the actual lighting config-uration did not match the scheduling scenarios that the facility staff had programmed. After the site visit, Energy Ottawa recommended im-plementing a full redesign

of the platform and tunnel lighting. The project saw the installation of new 4-foot,

8-foot, and 12-foot extruded aluminum Light Emitting Diode (LED) platform luminaires above the platform. Each 4-foot section would consume 71W at full out-put, however, they only need to

As for the wallpacks on the exterior of the St. Laurent garage, the north garage MH wallpacks were replaced with new 126W LED fixtures, while 72W similar fixtures replaced the HPS fixtures on the south garage. The total cost to imple-ment the project was high, but it did qualify for approximately $6,000 in incentives from the saveONenergy program. The combined payback period is a rather long 17 years, largely due to the replacement of the poles

and concrete bases that do not contribute to energy savings - but were needed for workplace safely. This project saves energy, while resolving safety problems.

Riverside Station:

Riverside Station is a bus stop along the OC Transpo transitway situated near the intersection of Riverside Drive and Smyth Road. It was built in

OC TRANSPO is a trans-portation service that provides comprehensive

transit services to almost one million residents in Ottawa. These services include a tran-sitway that is dedicated to OC Transpo and emergency vehicles, travelling from one end of the city to the other, as well asfive O-train stops, a Park and Ride program, and finally door-to-door Para Transpo service for people with disabilities. OC Transpo operates under a mandate to deliver a safe and reliable service while reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions not only through reducing the number of vehicles on the road, but also through energy upgrades for their facili-ties.

St. Laurent Parking Lot:

The OC Transpo fleet consists of over 975 buses and six trains serving nearly 340,000 riders daily. When not in use, this fleet is parked at four bus depots around the city, with the headquar-ters located at 1500 St. Laurent Boule-vard. In 2013, Energy Ottawa con-ducted a site visit to collect information on various lighting equip-ment regard-ing adjacent parking lot sites within the OC Transpo St. Laurent complex. The visit flagged number of safety concerns that required immediate attention with respect to the existing light pole assembly and concrete bas-es, in addition to lighting fixtures

that needed to be replaced. The St. Laurent garage building, which had undergone an interior lighting retrofit in 2012 that cut its energy costs by 43%, also required upgrades to its exterior lighting in the form of wallpacks. The exterior of the north garage was origi-nally equipped with 400W high pressure sodium (HPS) wallpacks yielding a total system wattage

of 465W, while the exterior of the south garage was illuminat-ed with 175W metal halide (MH) wallpacks with a total system wattage of 210W. The St Laurent Garage project was one of the earliest parking lot projects that OC Transpo implemented using light emitting diode (LED) fixtures. It saw the removal of existing light pole assemblies and the concrete bases associated with some of these poles. The poles were replaced with new alumi-num poles that maintained the same height, while new concrete bases were installed. New LED Gullwing fixtures with a system wattage of 130W were supplied by Energy Ottawa. The overall light levels after installation were slightly

lower than before; however, vis-ibility within the space is greatly enhanced due to the white light colour of the LEDs as opposed to the old yellow light of the HPS fixtures.

The Riverside Transit Station tunnel, although handy for providing shelter for hospital patients traveling by bus, presented some unique lighting challenges for OC Transpo.

Wallpacks: lighting fixtures (typically

commercial) that are installed on the sides

of buildings, along walkways, and in other

outdoor industrial settings.

Busses have sit somewhere when they’re not in use. The St. Laurent Parking Lot had some serious safety and energy use issues that were resolved through lighting retro-fits. Photo courtesy of JP Rozon.

Jan - March 2018 Peace and Environment News - PEN INSIDERPg 6

by Kim Smet

Converting lighting to Light Emitting Diodes (LED). Motion

sensors for building lighting and ventilation. Low flow toilets and automatically

flushing urinals.

These are just a few of the conservation initiatives the City of Ottawa has

undertaken at its municipal facilities over the course of

the last decade.

BEEM-ing with Pride at the City of Ottawa’s Building Engineering & Energy Management Unit

Energy Case Studies: A Piece of the Ottawa Energy Puzzle

(e.g. solar panels) to generate renewable energy at municipal facilities, performance of energy benchmarking exercises to com-pare the energy utilization of similar facilities, re-commission-ing of existing buildings, as well as offering training for facility and maintenance staff. Since its inception, the BEEM Unit has taken advan-tage of utility and government incentives of over $1.5 million to extend the energy management work they are able to imple-ment.

Across all these mea-sures, between 2011 and 2016 the average energy intensity of City facilities has been reduced by 10%. This may seem like a small number, but it represents an actual measured reduction in energy use equivalent to $2.8 million annually, and is a significant reduction in the City’s environmental footprint. Technology is constant-ly improving and the BEEM team is taking advantage of those improvements to help the City of Ottawa not only control costs, but also significantly reduce its environmental impact.

shoot equipment while up on a roof through a portable comput-er or tablet. They can check on equipment at another site with-out leaving the roof. Operations staff can also remotely monitor satellite facilities. For instance, at the start of hockey season when ice is being made, municipal rink personnel used to have to be on site every day to monitor and control ice making equipment. Now, personnel can remotely monitor progress and make equipment setting changes by accessing the Integrator via a laptop or smartphone. It is estimated that fa-cility staff can have a 20% impact on energy use. The use of the BAS Integrator gives them a tool to more effectively run facilities. It also gives them quick access to support should they experience control or mechanical problems. Other opportunities identified in the 2015 Energy Conservation and Demand Management Plan include the replacement of Ottawa’s streetlights with LEDs (see article on pg 3 of the Insider) , elec-tricity demand management, the installation of infrastructure

using computer controls for heating, ventilation, air condi-tioning and ice rink refrigeration systems. In the past, it was a challenge for facility staff to oversee these buildings ef-fectively, given the more than fifteen different BAS vendors who each use unique software. The efficiencies to be gained by having a single, integrated system have long been clear. The recently developed BAS Integrator, a BEEM-led project, does exactly that: it is a single, online, front end portal which all building operation and maintenance staff can use to re-motely monitor most aspects of a building’s heating, ventilation and air conditioning. It allows facility and maintenance staff to use City computers and mobile phones to monitor sites, inves-tigate problems, and change schedules and space tempera-ture set-points remotely. The different vendor control systems still control the individual buildings, but me-chanics can now be much more effective dealing with all the equipment through one soft-ware package. They can trouble-

Building on the successes of the Energy Reduction Program (2004-2009)

and the Smart Energy Program (2010-2014), the City of Otta-wa took another crucial step in their journey to city-wide energy efficiency and conserva-tion by establishing the Building Engineering and Energy Manage-ment (BEEM) Unit. This Unit was created with the goal of helping opera-tions and maintenance staff run facilities not only efficiently, but also safely while maintaining comfort. With a mandate of “op-timizing tomorrow’s energy use today”, the BEEM Unit is faced with the challenge of conserving and reducing energy use in a growing city. The Unit’s first Ener-gy Conservation and Demand Management Plan, released in 2015, laid out a series of capital investment projects to be im-plemented each year between 2015 and 2018. With an annual budget of $1 million, these projects focus on the reduction of costs and the conservation of electricity, natural gas, oil, pro-pane and water use. By design, these investments are chosen to have an average payback period of 5.5 years, resulting from cost savings derived from either increases in energy or water use efficiency. The bulk of the projects identified by Sustainable Eastern Ontario in its work for the IESO focus on electrical savings measures (80% of total savings), with 10% of savings focused on

each of gas and water efficiency projects.

Actions include: - Lighting upgrades - Controlling ventilation and heating equipment more effec-tively by taking advantage of scheduling, occupancy sensors and carbon dioxide monitoring - Heat reclaiming - Water efficiency measures - Upgrades of heating ven-tilation and air conditioning equipment- Installation of variable speed drives to much more effectively control fans and pumps

Results of the BEEM Unit

A growing number of BEEM-led projects are current-ly underway in Ottawa, with the development of the City’s Building Automation System (BAS) Integrator one of the most innovative and exciting. Increasingly, City of Ottawa facilities are being con-trolled and monitored by a BAS, with 115 of the City’s more than 860 facilities already using some kind of BAS. These systems help optimize energy use and comfort

Energy touches every aspect of the lives of Ottawa res-idents, so obviously there

can be a lot of overlap between projects. This can get a little con-fusing, but it also means working more efficiently on this complex issue. Many different groups and individuals are hard at work on various aspects of the energy side of sustainability, and Sustainable Eastern Ontario is involved in many different ways. This is a short overview of some relationships we have with other

initiatives and how they relate.

IESO The case studies initia-tive featured in this edition of the Insider was made possible in part through the financial support of the Independent Electricity System Operator’s (IESO) Education and Capacity Building Program. As a grant recipient, Sustainable Eastern Ontario was solely responsible for implemen-tation and content of any mate-rials produced by this initiative, and the IESO has no responsibil-ity or liability whatsoever in the event that any person suffers any losses or damages of any kind as a result of the project.

This work supports the overarching mission of the IESO, but the case studies and the opinions expressed come from our staff.

City of Ottawa This work was a collab-oration with the City of Ottawa and would not have been possi-ble without many of their staff, notably including Jennifer Brown on the Energy Evolution Team, and Jean Paul Rozon in building management, but also many more individuals we don’t have the space to name. City staff working on energy issues are highly com-mitted individuals, and this work represents part of an ongoing

partnership with them to make the Ottawa community more sustainable.

Collective Impact Although the case stud-ies presented here are primarily a product of collaboration with the City of Ottawa and the IESO project, to a greater or lesser degree most of them also over-lap with the green build-ing work being done through the Collective Impact project de-scribed on pg 4.

Many of the players are the same, and the findings will be of use in many different ways. We’re excited to see this infor-mation made available to those groups and individuals who can make use of it, and to continue working towards the goal of a vibrant and sustainable capital city.

A screenshot showing an example of what BEEM unit staff see when remotely monitoring or controling the energy using systems in a municipal building (pictured: BAS interface for the Goulbourn Recreation Complex). Photo courtesy of Supinderjit Rattan, City of Ottawa.

by Kathryn Norman

January - March 2018Peace and Environment News - PEN INSIDER Pg 7

The Carleton Lodge, first built in 1960, is an example of how even old buildings can benefit from relatively simple energy retrofits. Photo courtesy of Carleton Lodge.

likely non-renewable sources, which in turn results in a further emissions reduction of 40,000 tonnes.

Additionally, this project reaps financial rewards. The City of Ottawa is the owner of the Trail Road landfill and receives an estimated royalty of $150,000 per year from PowerTrail as pay-ment for the rights to the landfill gas (the exact amount depends on the quantity of electricity generated). Prior to 2007, the City needed to invest heavily in up-grades and repairs to the existing landfill gas collection and venting system. By implementing the landfill gas-to-energy system, the City saved approximately $2 million in one-time capital costs, and is accruing recurring savings of between $200,000-$250,000 per year due to Energy Ottawa taking over responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the new system.

Conclusions and Reflections:

The Trail Road gas-to-energy project marked it’s tenth anniversary in 2017. In these years, the facility has had the same cumulative emissions reduction impact as taking 330,000 passenger vehicles off the road (or around 1.6 million tonnes of eliminated carbon dioxide emissions). Reflecting on this first decade of operation, Greg Clarke, Chief Electricity Gener-ation Officer at Energy Ottawa recalls some early growing pains, such as the snowmelt follow-ing a particularly snowy winter flooding the landfill gas collec-tion wells (they subsequently invested in pumps for the wells), and the negative effects of silox-ane (a garbage by-product, now filtered out) on energy genera-tion equipment. In 2017, Energy Ottawa submited a proposal to the Inde-pendent Electricity System Op-erator (IESO) in Ontario to add a seventh engine to the facility, to further increase the plant’s ability to convert landfill gas to electricity. IESO however reject-ed this proposal, citing reasons of overcapacity in the province’s energy generating infrastructure. While the Trail Road Landfill landfill gas-to-energy project was the first of its kind in Ottawa, its success is already be-ing replicated in other locations: in 2013, Energy Ottawa opened a new 4.2-megawatt landfill gas-to-energy facility at the Laflèche Eastern Ontario Waste Handling Facility in Moose Creek, which produces enough electric-ity for 4,000 homes and reduces greenhouse emissions by around 100,000 tonnes.

Editor’s Note: Waste-to-Energy can be controversial, and is widely regarded as the least

useful way to divert waste (vs recycling etc.). However, in this

case it is generating energy from an existing landfill, so a net positive. Keep and eye on

our blog for more on this topic. www.perc.ca/blog

By Kim Smet

Chaudière Falls Expansion: More clean, renew-able energy generated in the heart of Ottawa

The Chaudière, or Akikod-jiwan, Falls are home to Canada’s oldest hydro-

electric power plant remaining operational today. From the construction of the first run-of-river generating station in 1891, to powering the first lightbulbs, streetlights and streetcars in Ottawa, the Chaudière Falls are entering yet another chapter in their long and storied history with an expansion to the existing hydropower generating facility.

At the start of this expansion project, the Chaudière Falls al-ready hosted hydropower plants on both the Ontario and Québec sides of the Ottawa River, with

a total generating capacity of 65 megawatts (MW). On the Gatin-eau side, Hydro Ottawa owned a 12 MW plant (purchased from Domtar Corporation in 2012) as well as a 27 MW plant (pur-chased from Hydro Quebec in 2016). On the Ottawa side, Hy-dro Ottawa owned a 3 MW and a 6 MW plant (also purchased from Domtar Corporation in 2012), two 8 MW legacy plants dating back to the late 1800’s and early 1900’s respectively, as

well as a 1 MW plant that was completed in 2007. On March 4th 2014, Hydro Ottawa was awarded a 40-year contract to expand their

existing hydropower facilities at Chaudière Falls, with an estimat-ed price-tag of more than $150 million financed from the bond market. Construction on the hydropower expansion started in 2015. The 3 MW and 6 MW plants on the Ottawa side of the river were first decommissioned, with the water rights from these plants redirected to the expan-

sion project along with addition-al unused water rights owned by Hydro Ottawa. The 29 MW expansion saw the installation of four new turbines installed below grade to minimize impacts on the local visual and natural environment. While expanding clean, renewable electricity generating capacity was obviously the driv-ing force behind the project, Hy-dro Ottawa additionally wanted

the expansion project to serve as a public space to be enjoyed by the community, as well as a tangible reminder of the site’s significance to First Nations and the local industrial past. These additional goals are to be achieved through the inclusion of a First Nations Plaza, three safe public viewing plat-forms, increased public access and a new pedestrian and cyclist bridge in the design. Hydro Ottawa under-took extensive stakeholder con-sultation with local First Nations, but the project has experienced ongoing media coverage related to certain advocacy groups calling for the falls and islands to be returned to the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation as an act of reconciliation. The expansion creat-ed 150 new construction jobs andbegan producing power on 18 August 2017, officially opening on the 16th of October. It resulted in the addition of 20 MW of generating capacity at Chaudière Falls, bringing the site total up to 85 MW. At present, 39 MW of this is destined for use in Quebec, while 46 MW is for Ontario. The expansion is ex-pected to generate enough

. . . . . . . . . . continued on pg 8

Carleton Lodge Long-term Care Facility: Exterior Lighting Upgrades By Talal El Ayoubi

Editor’s Note: Development in this area has been

contentious for many years. Balancing clean energy needs with First Nation’s wishes (and recognizing that First Nations are not a uniform group) can

be difficult. If you have an opinion on this subject, we

would welcome a respectful letter to the editor as part of this ongoing discussion.

Overhead view of Chaudière Falls Generating Stations. Image courtesy of Greg Clarke (edited).

Carleton Lodge is one of the oldest long-term care homes in Ottawa; however, lighting ret-rofits such as this are considered as “low hanging fruit” that will help renew the facility’s overall energy infrastructure, while reducing operating costs and making sure that even the oldest buildings can benefit from new technologies.

Providing excellent care for their residents is of utmost impor-tance to the Carleton Lodge, and with the help of the City’s BEEM unit and incentives from Energy Ottawa, the Lodge can continue to undergo periodic energy ret-rofits that focus on reducing the facility’s energy use.

incentives provided through the saveONenergy program. The City’s Building Engineering and Energy Management (BEEM) unit assumed around $30,000 of project cost to reduce the payback period, and Carleton Lodge paid for the remainder of the cost.

While the objective of the project was not to reduce

greenhouse gas emissions, the retrofit will prevent 26 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) from being released into the atmosphere per year, through the expected energy use reductions of approximate-ly 35,000 kWh/year. The lodge will also save roughly $5,500 in utility costs every year.

absence of ambient light. While most of the existing lights were still operational, they were very old and consumed a lot of ener-gy.

Energy Ottawa re-viewed the existing equipment and conditions at the Lodge and recommended several upgrades that were carried out by the end of 2017. Metal halide and high pressure sodium wallpacks were replactes with new light emitting diode (LED) wallpacks, which used roughly 75% less energy. The 60W incandescent security lights were also replaced with 20W LEDs. As for pole-mounted lighting, the 250W MH bull-horn-mounted flood lights were replaced with new 85W LED flood lights that were adjusted to increase light levels in the ad-jacent parking area - more light from less energy. For the remaining pole-mounted lights, Energy Ottawa evaluated many different options, eventually going with a low-cost option, since the differ-ence in long-term enery savings with more pricey models was not worth the extra installation cost. This option included the installation of 40W luminaires along the pathways and in the courtyards, and a mix of higher wattage lights for parking areas. The project cost $45,100 to implement, but is expected to receive $2,100 in

The Carleton Lodge is a non-profit long-term care facility owned and

operated by the City of Ottawa, which is now enjoying reduced lighting expenditures thanks to initiatives such as the save-ONenergy program and the City’s BEEM unit. Built in 1960 as the first municipal home for the elderly, the site was later expanded with the construction of a new facility that opened its doors in the spring of 1989. Today, the Lodge is a 161-bed facility located on a beautiful 12-hectare waterfront property by the Rideau River in South Ottawa, with 136 private rooms, 12 double rooms, and plenty of amenities providing quality service to its residents - more so recently thanks to savings from energy efficiency upgrades. Carleton Lodge is equipped with various exterior lighting systems in two catego-ries: building-mounted lights and pole-mounted lights. The building-mounted lights include a mix of metal halide (MH) and high pressure sodium (HPS) wallpacks, as well as 60W in-candescent security luminaires. Pole-mounted lights include MH bullhorn-mounted flood lights, and a mix of post-top mounted fixtures. All outdoor lighting at Carleton Lodge is controlled by a small number of central photocells that turn on in the

...continued from cover.

Jan - March 2018 Peace and Environment News - PEN INSIDERPg 8

. . . .continued from pg 7 clean energy to power 20,000 homes, which in turn will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 115,000 tonnes of CO2 every year, as this new clean energy displaces electricity previously generated from other dirtier sources. In addition, the expanded hydroelectric facility will help contribute to Ontario’s long-term hydropower genera-tion target. Finally, a power pur-chase agreement with the IESO in Ontario will generate $15 million of revenue annually for Hydro Ottawa, some of which a dividend would go to the City of Ottawa. According to Hydro Ottawa CEO and President Bryce Conrad, the biggest challenges faced through the course of the

expansion project were its size and location: “It’s in the back-yard in the city of Ottawa. Ev-eryone can see it. Everyone can hear it when the dynamite goes off. So, just the logistics around a project of this magnitude are challenging.” That said, the hydro-power generating facilities have been operational for a few months now and aside from some routine adjustments such as calibrating sensors, this ramping-up period has gone very smoothly. Over the coming two years, Hydro Ottawa plans to upgrade the remaining two Que-bec-side hydropower plants (12 MW and 27 MW), and transfer the power generated by these facilities to Ontario markets.

by Talal El Ayoubi

The Ottawa Catholic School Board (OCSB) is a publicly funded

institution that operates as a separate school

board, which governs English-speaking Catholic

schools in Ottawa. It is responsible for 85 schools within the greater Ottawa area, employing around 4,000 teachers and staff

members.

Energy Management throughout the Ottawa Catholic School Board

full tracking systems to maximize solar capability. Since the implemen-tation of their energy manage-ment plan in 2005, the OCSB has reduced their annual electricity consumption by 19,290,000 kWh (33%) and their total natural gas consumption by 1.54 million m3(26%), despite the addition of 34,600 m2(5.2%) of new construction. This has prevented approximately 52,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2) from being released into the at-mosphere, which is equivalent to eliminating the carbon footprint of over 11,000 passenger cars. After running the energy management program for ten years, the Board has come a long way in identifying energy savings potential for each facility. In addition to surpassing the provincial reduction require-ment of 10%, these efforts have contributed to the avoidance of over $24,000,000 in utility costs. Since the Ministry of Energy began collecting per-formance data for all school boards in Ontario, the OCSB has shown leadership by topping the sustainable schools charts for two consecutive years, and are currently ranked 5th in the province. With utility costs pro-jected to increase further, the Board is looking to refine their energy management practices by using renewal grants to fur-ther improve building envelopes as well as mechanical and elec-trical systems.

The OCSB introduced a framework for energy management and conser-

vation in 2005 in an effort to reduce ex-penditures on energy utili-ties. The goal of the energy management plan was to comply with the Ontario Green Energy Act, while maintaining the same level of comfort for occupants, and leverag-ing energy savings to contribute to student and staff success. The

Board estab-lished an energy

baseline from actual 2003-04 consumption data (statistically balanced for climate variations), and targeted a $670,000 reduc-tion in energy consumption for the 2005-06 school year. Data from that year were used to

establish reduction targets for future years. A third of the Board’s energy budget is spent on roof insulation, which benefits the schoolsfrom both an energy and building integrity stand-point. Twelve inch insulation with high R-Values (a measure of insulat-ing ability - higher equals better) is being utilized. The energy plan also focuses on retrofitting windows with thermal breaks to reduce the flow of thermal ener-gy passing through the glass, as well as the installation of solar blinds. Lighting is another area of action. The Board commis-sioned the retrofit of their old lighting systems with high efficiency systems consisting of T-8 and T-5 fixtures with high efficiency ballasts. All their new facilities are fully equipped with LEDs and high efficiency ballasts. Furthermore, as the price of LEDs has dropped over time, the Board re-lamped all exterior lighting and some large gymnasi-um/auditorium lights with LEDs. They are also installing occupan-cy sensors in relevant areas at a rate of thirty per year. Energy Management Control Systems allow head caretakers organize and schedule HVAC systems to meet seasonal guidelines and make use of sea-sonal efficiencies (like not cool-ing air when it’s cool outside). Moreover, the Board continues to receive revenue from four large solar installa-tions through the Feed In Tariff program. St. Patrick and St. Dominic schools both have fixed mount solar in-stallations, while Mother Teresa and St. Gabriel High Schools are equipped with

Rooftop Solar Installation at Muchmore Public School. Photo courtesy of OCSB.

But Wait, There’s More!

by Sustainable Eastern Ontario

The case studies presented here represent only part of the work done by Kim & Talal for the IESO project.

There’s lots more to say about energy management projects in the Ottawa area. We’ve covered a lot here in this edition of the Insider, but we’ve only scratched the surface of the work done in partnership with the City of Otta-wa through the IESO.

Complete case studies, with technical details, will be available on our website soon, but in the meantime, keep an eye on the PERC blog (www.perc.ca/blog) for on some topics we didn’t get to in print.

These include:

-The Peaksaver Plus program, and how it is empowering individual Ontarians to con-tribute to the reliability of the power grid. Electricity service is a constant balancing act, and when something throws off the balance, the lights can go out in a big way. The Peaksaver Plus

program helps prevent this from happening.

- Greening Transportation in Ot-tawa through light rail, Complete Streets, and the municipal vehicle fleet. Read about the energy impacts of the light rail project and the Complete Streets program Ecology Ottawa has been pushing for for many years. Discover how City staff are using less energy and fossil fuel while doing their business of running a mu-nicipality.

- More about sustainability in healthcare, and how going green at the Per-ley-Rideau Veterans Health Centre also benefitted the residents and the organiza-tion’s budget.

- How Algonquin College is showing leadership in man-aging its own buildings, and

training the experts needed to help bring all of Ottawa’s build-ings to a more sustainable level. Maybe you’ve wondered what that unusual building at the Baseline transit station is: this is your chance to learn about the Algonquin Centre for Construc-tion Excellence.

At Sustainable Eastern Ontar-io, we believe in celebrating sustainability success stories. Getting to the greener and more sustainable world we all want for the future can be a bumpy road, and it’s easy to get discouraged, so we try to shine a spotlight on some of the good news you might not hear otherwise.

We hope these case studies have been interesting and informative. Remember to reach out if you have others to share, or know of an orga-nization or group who would benefit from a more detailed presentation on any of these topics!

The Peaksaver Plus program is just one of the many additional topics covered in our case studies, and we’ll be featuring these on the PERC blog as well.